Robert Orr, a noted attorney and a former associate justice on the North Carolina Supreme Court, is optimistic the NCAA will overturn the ineligibility of St. John’s forward Orlando Sanchez and grant the 6-foot-9 forward a year to play college ball.

If not, Orr will see the NCAA in court.

“I’ve not been instructed by St. John’s to take this to court,’’ Orr said. “I frankly have no reluctance if that’s the case. That’s never the ideal scenario. It’s simply inefficient from a cost standpoint. It drags out from a time standpoint.’’

Under antiquated NCAA bylaw 14.2.3.1, which states an individual 21 or older loses one year of eligibility for every season he plays organized ball outside of college, Sanchez, 24, is not eligible. The NCAA has waived this rule in cases of military service and religious commitments, such as when a Mormon goes on a mission.

Orr said Sanchez’s case is unique because he experienced financial hardship by being moved when he was 17 by his grandmother from the Dominican Republic to Spain to live with his father for four years. Sanchez returned home and played three minutes and 38 seconds in one game for the Dominican Republic national team, costing him his final year of eligibility.

St. John’s tomorrow will submit information prepared by Orr to the NCAA case officer handling Sanchez’s case, Jessica Harbison Weaver, who will present it for a staff review. If the NCAA doesn’t waive the bylaw, Orr and St. John’s have one last appeal to an NCAA subcommittee.

Weaver did not return a phone call. Orr said he expected the NCAA to decide on the case by the beginning of March.

Orr knows the NCAA — which has suffered a laundry list of public relations disasters recently, including a memo from presidents of the Mountain West Conference questioning the association’s leadership — has bigger problems than prohibiting Sanchez from playing next season.

“Frankly, and I hope the NCAA understands this,” Orr said, “a great young man [is] being shafted by what I would say is a bad rule being improperly applied. If anybody needs good publicity and good PR, it’s the NCAA.’’